'Tosca'

Puccini's "Tosca," which the Pacific Symphony presented onstage at Segerstrom Concert Hall on Thursday night, is one of the most frequently performed operas in the United States. Its music is splendid; its plot is pure melodrama and a little hard to take seriously at this date. The villain, Scarpia, is of the type who would twirl his mustache if he had one, while laughing maniacally. When Tosca stabs him she declares through gritted teeth, "Here is Tosca's kiss!" referring to herself in the third person. The singer who played Scarpia was roundly and merrily booed when he came out for his bows at the end. "Tosca" is that kind of opera.

The Pacific Symphony, led by Carl St.Clair, performed it in a semi-staged version as part of an ongoing opera initiative during which it offers one such production a year. This one was hard to think of as semi-staged. Yes, the orchestra was on stage, yes, the costumes (modern, mostly) were rudimentary and no, there were no sets per se. But Eric Einhorn, a young director on staff at the Metropolitan Opera, put together such an impressive and involved staging that the theatrical aspect was thoroughly served.

A large, curved, Cinerama-style screen hangs above the stage, upon which the designs and animations of video artist Paul DiPierro are projected. At the beginning of each act, we are told the location and an old map of Rome is scrolled to show us exactly where in the city it is. The maps dissolve into architectural suggestions of the locales. Various animations – the face that inspired Cavaradossi's painting, Scarpia's letter, a procession of clergy – come and go. In a coup de theatre, we see Tosca's suicide from her point of view.

Platforms are placed in front of and behind the orchestra. Singers enter on stairs coming down from the choral terrace at the back, walking right through the orchestra. There are enough props for purposes. The stage elevator is used to take Cavaradossi into the room for torture, and whisks the dead body of Scarpia away. It is all very smart, and fascinating to watch.

Still, there were times when you wondered why there was an orchestra playing in the middle of the church or wherever. In some ways, it might have been better had the orchestra been in a pit. Certainly, it was good to hear Puccini's vivid score performed right before our eyes; you heard detail and richness not always evident. But the orchestra was also too loud for the singers much of the time, and when not, its sound bled into the vocal lines, obscuring if not erasing them.

English soprano Claire Rutter turned in a vulnerable, ditzy-tinged Tosca, her voice voluminous, rich and powerful but never harsh. When she turned her head, though, or attempted intimate nuance, parts of her phrases simply disappeared. Her "Vissi d'arte," sung facing straightforward, was sensitive and touching. American tenor Brian Jagde produced a heroic Cavaradossi, strongly phrased (when he could be heard properly) and sweet and tender in his "E lucevan le stelle."

Georgian baritone George Gagnidze showed how it was done with Scarpia, smoothly and eloquently evil, looking a bit like Mussolini. With the Pacific Chorale blazing away and the Southern California Children's Chorus assisting, he raised the roof with the Te Deum at the end of Act One.

Ryan Kuster (Angelotti), Dennis Peterson (Spoletta) and Michael Gallup (a bumbling Sacristan) were proficient in their smaller parts. St.Clair and the orchestra gave a potent account of the score, though, as said, they probably need to pull it back here and there. The coordination with the singers was a little loose; it wasn't always clear who was following whom.

There are two more performance of this "Tosca," Saturday (also broadcast live of KUSC, 91.5 FM) and Tuesday. If "Tosca" is your thing, go for the Te Deum and the suicide, stay for the booing.

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